Pet food sales up by 9.9 per cent

Provimi has announced sales and key developments in the first quarter of 2009. Sales amounted to € 433.9 million in the first quarter of 2009, a decrease of 18.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2008. On a like-for-like basis, sales decreased 15.7 per cent. Pet food sales increased by almost 10 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. Increased production capacity in Hungary and better utilisation of the group’s existing plants enabled the business to gain new customers and benefit from a growing demand for private label. Pet food margins were negatively impacted by a sharp increase in the cost of cans that the group was not able to pass on to its customers.